Cape Cod Rail, Bridges and Highways

[ritchiew]

There's a broad consensus that supports double tracking the Old Colony Line through Dorchester by shifting the Red Line junction south of Savin Hill. That double tracking is necessary for quality service expansion and improvement to the South Shore and Cape Cod. How likely is it that such a project breaks ground within a decade? What can move the needle in that direction?

I had thought there was something about this in the current Capital Investment Plan, but rereading it, I guess not. It includes:

Rail Modernization Early Actions - Old Colony Double Track (P1209):
Implementation of track improvements to support hourly, all-day, bi-directional service
on the Old Colony Line and South Coast Rail. Includes design for double-tracking on
portions of the Greenbush/Middleboro Lines and track modifications at Middleboro
Station.

That project has been going on a few years, it's still in Pre-Design, and it's budgeted for $10 million. That sounds like double tracking on the branches only, and not the trunk. Maybe someone here knows the specifics of that one? Regardless, it doesn't look like double-tracking in Dorchester is on the 5-year plan.

I've heard (this forum or elsewhere, I don't remember, don't trust me) that part of the holdup was some inter-departmental turf wars: full double-tracking would inevitably mean touching some land or a wall on the Southeast Expressway, and that let MassDOT hold up the project unless they got some expensive road upgrades or highway widening. It is possible that that problem is easier to fix right now, since Eng heads both MBTA and MassDOT.

Moving the RL junction south of Savin Hill would be the most expedient way to double track the Old Colony. It's not ideal in terms of RL train flow (as I believe F-Line previously pointed out elsewhere on aB), but in terms of funding availability and getting it done in the foreseeable future, it's more of a winner than tunneling or other investment-heavy proposals made.

Yeah, I think that's an important part of any solution. But to be clear, that only fixes a part of the single-track problem. There'd still be a bunch of single-tracked trunk through Quincy. I know TransitMatters recommended moving the Red Line junction, and also double tracking at least Quincy Center Station (among tons of other upgrades). I wonder how much the Red Line swap would help on its own.

 

[Charlie_mta]

Moving the RL junction south of Savin Hill would be the most expedient way to double track the Old Colony. It's not ideal in terms of RL train flow (as I believe F-Line previously pointed out elsewhere on aB), but in terms of funding availability and getting it done in the foreseeable future, it's more of a winner than tunneling or other investment-heavy proposals made.

Here's a layout I came up with 15 years ago for a RL junction south of Savin Hill station. I still think its the most expedient way to double track the Old Colony through that stretch, without disturbing the SE Expressway, and without any tunneling required. It would utilize the old RR fly-under that was used by a freight spur.

 

[themissinglink]

MBTA’s Cape Cod train sets July Fourth weekend record, with big jump over last year​

The CapeFLYER, the MBTA’s summertime weekend train to Cape Cod, ferried a record number of passengers from Boston to Hyannis over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to the MBTA data.
The 2,285 riders on the CapeFLYER last weekend represented a 31% increase in ridership from last Fourth of July and the highest ridership the train has recorded during the holiday period in its 14-year history, a spokesperson for the T said.
The train typically runs three round trips each summer weekend, one each on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. The T adjusted the schedule for the Fourth of July weekend, adding a round-trip journey on Thursday, July 2, and a Hyannis-to-Boston trip Monday afternoon.